Educational Media Reviews Online

On October 31, 1990 the Local 5668 Ravenswood Aluminum Plant union contract expired. During the next eighteen months 1700 workers were locked out of the Ravenswood, West Virginia plant and watched as the company employed non-union workers to replace them. Negotiations had been in progress and the union had offered to extend the contract and keep negotiating to a settlement. Instead the company refused their offer. The workers left the plant at midnight and the company hired security guards to keep out the union members. During those months the Union appealed to the courts and to the National Labor Relations Board. They also came together in their effort to hold the union and community together. This documentary is the story of what happened in Ravenswood in reaction to the company’s actions.

The Kaiser Company had originally been a benevolent family owned business that had helped build the community of Ravenswood. But that was history, the company was now controlled by big business determined to run the company for as much profit as possible even if it meant longer hours and dangerous conditions. The key management group led by Emmett Boyle and owner Marc Rich (yes the infamous pardoned fugitive) were determined to do it their way. As the dispute continued the solidarity at Ravenswood increased. All the members wanted was the right to earn a decent living and to have the respect that is entitled to all human beings. Finally on June 29, 1992 the NLRB ruled in favor of the union and the parties returned to the bargaining table. This labor action is said to have changed the way unions deal with management. The solidarity of the workers and the national and international union support helped strengthen trade unionism in the nineties.

The producer/director Shawn Bennett is the son of one of Local 5668 union leaders during that time and the film features interviews with current and former union members. Inspiring is the action that was taken by the women of the community in support of their spouses. An interesting film for students of labor relations and union histories.